Forget Me Never
by Lilium's Reign
Summary: Weak... pathetic... annoying... it was irritating. There's more to those innocent emerald eyes and pale pink hair than anyone thought, and since no one excepted the worst, the worst decided to show what it could do. SasuSaku NejiTen NaruHina ShikaIno
1. Introduction

_**Before you read the story, I think that I need to clarify some things so that you guys won't complain later on about how it says SasuSaku and why I would do chapters featuring other people.**_

_**This story is about what would happen if Inner Sakura was more than just a core. I need to write about how it would affect other people too, so like the fight between the Akatsuki and Konoha jonin, I will put that and Sakura and Sasuke won't have an appearance in it because they'll be talking about them while they fight.**_

_**I will give little hints, but I kinda wanna stay true to what Sasuke is like before he goes to OOC.**_

_**I would like to add that constructive criticism is allowed, but flames are unnecessary.**_

_**Well thanks! Anyway, reviews make me work faster, so instead of sending threat PMs.**_

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_**Hugs and Kisses,  
**__**Lilium :X**_


	2. The Demon Lives Again

_**I just hope no one tries to copy me… again… ugh… Okay, I was going to stop there, but can't help it, I have to go on. See the home page of ?! It says "Unleash Your Imagination," not "See a Good Story? Try to Make It Yours!"**_

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_**Mood**__**: Relaxed (maybe it's because I just took a shower…)  
**__**Status**__**: Going though FFs and typing up mine  
**__**Soundtrack**__**: The saint version of Lilium from Elfen Lied (anime/manga). It's (Elfen Lied) really gory and contains some nudity, but over all, it's pretty good.**_

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_Disclaimer__: I don't own anything so far, except the idea, which was inspired, so yeah, I don't own anything…_

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_Kuso…_ Sakura was kneeling on the ground with her fist balled up. Kin was teasingly swinging her hair side to side, teasing her by flaunting her defenselessness. All Sakura could do was allow herself to be swung.

"What nice full hair, maybe if you spent less time shampooing and more time training, you would be able to do something about this," Kin smirked, "You are the weak one."

_Weak…_

_Weak…_

_Weak…_

**She's right you know…**

Sakura stood in shock, trapped in her illusion of her mind. This wasn't the voice that she was so familiar with. She looked up to see herself staring right back at her, tauntingly.

Her dopple-ganger smiled wickedly and stood behind her, whispering her shoulder.

**You're weak. They're walking all over you. They're going to hurt those that are dear to you. And what can you do about it? **_**Nothing**_**…**

_N-no… that's not true_, Sakura squatted and clutched her head, trying to escape from this nightmare. _I-I will save them!_

The other one smirked.

**How do you plan on doing that?**

_I-I will fight them! I'll defeat them!!_

Her twin laughed manically.

**To truly defeat someone, you must kill them. You don't have that power. Without killing people, they'll walk all over you. Sasuke learned that. Naruto has yet to learn that. Now that you know that, what will you do?**

_I c-can't kill… I can't do that!!_

Her twin bent down to extend her arm to help Sakura get up.

**I can help you. I can give you that strength. All we need is each other, Sakura. Let me assist you…**

Sakura stared hesitantly at the hand and then the face of her determined self. She slowly lifted her palm to place it into the cold hand of her other self. The girl laughed.

**You won't regret it.**

Sakura's long hair was cut and Kin stumbled from the unexpected lost of grip. Sakura slowly stood up with her hands at her chest and her bangs falling over her eyes. Her headband fell to the ground with a small tinkle. Her hair blew around her, looking like cherry blossoms.

"W-what happened?!" Kin shouted. Zaku turned around to see what his teammate was making a commotion about. Sakura held a kunai between her hands. Her bangs blew over to show only one dull green eye.

Zaku smirked, "This brat gets more interesting…"

All of a sudden, large cuts exploded all over Kin body, blood splattered on Sakura's blank face. Then, everything slowed down so that Zaku could see what happened when Kin seem to have exploded. Bloodied cherry blossoms floated up for Kin's body and then disappeared gracefully.

"C'mon little girl," Zaku yelled, "Lets have some fun!"

Sakura turned to look at him. He felt a little chill for the blankness of her emerald eye. A large deep slash appeared on his arm, and then another one on his face. Zaku jumped away to a hiding place to get a better observation of her fighting ways.

It wasn't any jutsu. No, she didn't say anything. The girl just… snapped. One minute she was a little weak crybaby and now… she scared Zaku as much as Orochimaru… what was she…?

Sakura was suddenly on the tree branch behind Zaku and a kunai pierced his back, causing him to fall. Before he could ready himself to counter Sakura's next blow, another large cut sliced though his leg, and then another deep in his stomach.

He stumbled as she was behind him again, slowly digging a kunai from his shoulder downward.

"**Are we having fun yet?**"

Zaku fell, pain taking over his body, he glared at her, "I won't forget your face, bitch…"

All of a sudden, something stuck his eyes. Zaku could feel warm liquid squeezing out between his eye lids. He screamed. "BITCH!!"

Ino, Shikamaru and Choji watched in horror behind their bush of sanctuary.

"I-Ino… did you know that Sakura could do that…?" Shikamaru asked.

Ino stuttered a response, "How would I know?!"

He stared at her, "You guys were once best friends, right?"

Ino tore her gaze away from him and turned her gaze to her once-best-friend torture the Sound nin to no end. "The Sakura and Forehead Girl that was my best friend isn't that monster out there. She was everything before Kin took her by her hair… but… Shika-kun… what…?"

"I don't know," he promptly replied, reading what she was about to ask, "But… has Sakura ever mentioned her family?"

Ino tried to think it over Choji's nervous munching of ships, "Now that you mention it… she really did just live her live like a lonely little shy girl… she never really talked about anything, except most girl things and Sasuke-kun…"

"This means… she's hiding something."

She looked at her companion with wide eyes, "Like…" her voice cracked a little, "Like what?"

Shikamaru's eyebrows furrowed, "I'm… not sure at the moment. I'm pretty sure it's not good though."

Ino's breath hitched and shivers started running through her. What happened to that little crybaby? What happened to her shy, sweet best friend from years ago? What was this that took over her?

Sakura smiled as she sent her cherry blossoms to form cuts across Zaku's body. She enjoyed hearing his screams of suffering. She wanted to see more… more red stuff… more noise… more pain…

"Kuso…"

**More…**

"K-kuso…"

**More, Sakura…**

"KUSO!!"

**KILL HIM!!**

She was about to put the finishing touch on her marveled work when she felt an insanely strong chakra presence that froze her in place. She slowly turned around to meet the red eyes of Sasuke Uchiha as well as strange markings across the left side of his body.

_Wh-what is that?!_

Her eyes widened as she saw the Uchiha emerge from the cave to stare emotionlessly at her and at the mess around the area.

"Get out of Sakura."

She smirked, "**What are you talking about?**"

He growled, "Get the hell out of Sakura now."

"**Mm… can't do that Uchiha…**"

He flashed beside her with a kunai, "Get out of her."

She laughed as she was then standing face to face with him, "**I am your precious little cherry blossom, whether you want to accept it or not…**"

"You are not Sakura."

_S-Sasuke-kun…?_

"Get out of Sakura."

_What are you doing Sasuke-kun?_

"Give me back what's mine."

Her body started losing control and Sakura collapsed to her knees, holding tightly to his arms. Sasuke's markings died away and he was then holding Sakura while she was gaining control of herself. She then loosened the iron grip on his arms and blinked, looking around at what happened. Everything flooded back to her and she stared at Sasuke.

She stared at him with shock and looked at his neck which was still marked with the black seal, "A-are you okay…?"

"Aa," he shakily answered.

Sasuke looked at Sakura's pale skin and her cheek that was stained with blood. They both looked at the bandage-wrapped Sound nin that went over to pick up his unconscious comrades and set the scroll in front of them.

Sakura shouted at him before he left, "W-wait… I was wondering, who is Orochimaru? What does he want with Sasuke-kun?"

"I don't know," he sighed, "All he told us was that we were to annihilate him." He stared at the insanely powerful pair for a minute before bowing and disappearing.

Sasuke watched as Sakura's expression and frowned, _baka… always thinking about other people, never worrying about herself…_

He still had his arms around her, holding her as she was sitting between his legs, staring at the ground and trying to figure out what was going on with her. _Wh-what happened to me...?!_

**So stupid… all of them… I'm free now… and there's nothing you can do about it now Minato…**

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_**Review (duh)! Almost every single FF author wants reviews.**_

_**I was kinda just typing everything down that was on my mind, but what do you think? Sorry if it doesn't make sense. Tell me and I'll do my best to make it run smoother. I could think of anything that could've been the rising action to Sakura's secret.**_

_**I altered Inner Sakura, so it would be more like Lucy – **__**Elfen Lied**__**. **_

**_THANKS FOR CORRECTING MY MISTAKE WITH THE WORD DOPPLEGANGER!! This is what happens when you don't read over your work... nya~! I love my reviewers... and it's only been up for a few hours so yay!_**

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_**Hugs and Kisses,  
**__**Lilium :X**_


	3. Attention Caught! Victim: Haruno Sakura!

_**Su… sugoi… I only upload it for a few hours the other day and already got… wow… that's so sweet. I hope to be better at uploading (I take too long, but I'm really into this one XD). Thanks for correcting my mistake as well. I love you guys (I changed it immediately when I saw the reviews)!! Wow, "bobble-ganger"… I'm an idiot, ha-ha…**_

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_**Mood**__**: HAPPY (for once)!! Thanks to my reviewers, alerters, and favoriters!!  
**__**Status**__**: Talking to my home-skillet biscuit, Tiny… just got back from play rehearsal… Being a stage manager is so troublesome…  
**__**Soundtrack**__**: Suigintou no Yoru – Noriaki Sugiyama (the seiyuu for Sasuke and Uryu Ishida from Bleach, 'cause I just found out they're the same people! Funny 'cause he's known for Sasuke and I was more like "His singing sounds like Ishida" ha-ha…) from Naruto All Stars. That song and 'Kimi Monogatari' are the best!!**_

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_Disclaimer__: I don't own anything, I wish I owned a voice as nice as Noriaki Sugiyama 'cause then I wouldn't have to make Naruto FFs since I would be making millions from my music and could just pay Masashi Kishimoto to change everything so that it would be the way I want it!!_

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He held Sakura as she was still shaking and cold sweat ran down her face. Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed. This was his teammate, but what was… that… whatever it was, that took over Sakura. It was like the complete opposite of what she was.

Sasuke looked over at Team 10 who came out of a bush near the cave, helping up Lee and waking up Naruto, claiming that they were just minding their business and were passing by and thought that Team 7 needed help.

"ARGGHHH!!" Naruto screamed as he sat up. There was Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme… Ino and Fuzzy Eyebrows… wait…

_Where is he…?_ Naruto dove on the ground and started looking around cautiously, "Everyone hide!!"

They all turned to him as he continued yelling, "No, get down!!" He stared crawling and then whispered to himself, "Where is he… kuso…?"

Sakura and Sasuke turned around to look at his questionably. Ino was helping Lee up and thought in annoyance, _baka… he finally woke up._

Something poked at his head and Shikamaru sighed lazily, "You're pretty dumb, aren't you?"

Naruto turned around to see who was rudely speaking to him. Shikamaru groaned, "Actually, watching you pisses me off."

Choji nodded while Naruto glared at the both of them and then turned to see what was all going on.

Then, his teammates caught his attention. Naruto yelled from all the way over with Choji and Shikamaru jealously, "TEME!! GET YOUR PAWS OFFA SAKURA-CHAN!!!"

They immediately sprung away from each other, both blushing, but Sasuke's blush, with better control of his emotions, was barely noticeable, but there was no mistake that Sakura saw a light pink tint across his face.

Naruto gasped when he saw her pink locks go up to her shoulder instead of down to mid-back like always. He sprinted over to his teammates as fast as he could, yelling at, what was almost the top of his lungs, "Sakura-chan, SAKURA-CHAN!!"

He slid on his knees over to her and stuttered out his question, "Wh-what happened to your hair?! Why are you covered in… blood?!"

She looked down to see that not only her face was splattered with red liquid, but her arms, legs, and some were around the hem of her outfit.

"Are you okay?! Sakura-chan?! What happened?!'

Sakura looked up slightly, only to gaze at the ground again, "It… it's okay. I'm… well I'm fine now. My hair… just, don't worry about it. It'll grow back."

Sasuke stared worriedly at her. She knew Naruto was looking for a better explanation, but how could she give an explanation if she didn't even understand what was going on herself? Her dark-haired companion's eyebrows furrowed as she wiped the dried dark red crust off of her face and picked up the scroll that Dosu left when admitting defeat.

Ino frowned at Sakura's behavior after that little incident. She was… so… dead… It was like she was afraid that the smallest step out of place will awaken whatever happened to her again. Then, Ino gave a small smile. At least one quality of Sakura will never fade away: her care for other people, and that had to be the pink-haired girl's best quality.

Tenten then jumped in front of Ino. Looking up, she said, "I'll take him, now."

"Ah… uh… okay…" Ino gently transferred Lee into Tenten's arms.

"WAKE UP LEE!!" she violently shook him and then threw him down to the ground.

He groaned and looked up a little, "Tenten…? Why are you here?"

She bent down and looked at him seriously, "We came to help you."

Lee looked around, "Huh? Where did those Sound nin go?"

"Sasuke and Sakura drove them off, mainly Sakura," Tenten explained.

He was shocked. Before he was unconscious, the last thing he saw of Sakura was that she was being held by her hair.

"S-Sakura-san?"

Tenten nodded, "You're really lucky that they were there."

"I guess…" he disappointedly sighed, "I didn't have to save her at all…"

Tenten bitterly thought, _geez, if Lee didn't try to act like a man and protect her, he wouldn't have lost…_

"Baka," she grumbled.

He pulled his knees up to his chin and sighed, "I can't argue with that…"

Tenten looked at his sad expression for a minute, and then sighed, "Well, it can't be helped, we should get you cleaned up, Neji's waiting."

"H-hai," he pulled himself up.

"Lee."

He turned around when he heard Sakura's voice say his name. Sakura was standing behind him, and managed to pull a small smile together for him, "Ah… arigato… you… you protected me when I was down, even though I wasn't on your team."

Lee stared at her in shock for a minute before small sniffling sounds were heard. Sakura looked at his face to see that he was crying a little, "Sakura-san… You truly are a strong and talented kunochi that live up to the reputation to capture the heart of the equally powerful Uchiha. I guess I have to train more… you defeated them so easily while I lost horribly."

Sasuke froze, _wh-what? Were those guys really that strong that he even lost? _Sasuke looked over at Sakura whose expression looked a bit uncomfortable. _What's going on with Sakura? What's going on with me? How was I able to stop her in her massacre stage when she defeated three Sound nin without much effort?!_

Sakura spoke so softly that only Sasuke could here her words, "Don't worry about it. Whatever it was, I'll try to control it as best as I can… only if you do the same…"

He turned to her to see that she had her pinky sticking out and a serious expression on her face, which was something that only Sakura could do: talk about something serious while swearing with such childish techniques.

Sasuke looked at her face again after studying her hand to see that she was smiling with the expression that he was so familiar with when it came to Sakura. Sasuke didn't realize how much he missed the old, childish Sakura back. He couldn't help but smile as well. Sasuke slowly raised up his hand to hook his shortest finger with Sakura's.

They both stared at each other, smiling while Naruto was lying on the ground on his stomach, scowling at the pair. Ino's voice erupted from the side

"Hey, Sakura," Ino shouted as she waved her arm, "Over here! I'll fix up your hair!"

Sakura looked over at her former-best-friend and smirked, "Thanks."

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"You little cheater," Ino growled as she snipped away some ends of Sakura's hair with her kunai, "Doing something like that in front of people to make it look like you have something together."

She smirked and an evil glint flashed her eye, "All is fair in love and war, Ino-pig."

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Neji stood on the branch, glancing from between Sakura and Sasuke.

_They really are some team, the Kyuubi vessel, the last Uchiha, and her… they make good rivals…_

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A hiss was heard and then some chuckling. The sly voice laughed again and then sighed, "Ne, looks like we when for the wrong one, eh? The pink-haired creature would've been a much better body, ne?" He sighed, "Well, it's the Uchiha eyes I really want now. Better not tinker with this unheard demon…"

Yellow eyes could be seen in the darkness along with a flickering tongue, "Hmm… everything just got a little more intresting, ne?"

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_**R**_

_**E**_

_**V**_

_**I**_

_**E**_

_**W**_

_**So, I hope it wasn't too boring. Nothing really happens, except the growing action to finding out what Sakura is… sorry. I didn't want to add what I was planning on this chapter, but I promise next chapter, I will get better at adding action to every chapter equally!**_

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**_Hugs and Kisses,  
_****_Lilium :X_**

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	4. Your Life By Her Plan

_**After I read my reviews, I started sniffing a little at how sweet they were. You guys are like my best friends when I say something negative about myself… There was even one reviewer that said my story was the best ever I was about to cry. Thanks a bunch!! You have no idea how much I love you (but not in a creepy stalker/child molester way)!!**_

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_**Mood**__**: Touched… you guys are really, really sweet…  
**__**Status**__**: Just looking over some stuff for the play we have going on.  
**__**Soundtrack**__**: Ichirin no Hana – HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR (aka the 3**__**rd**__** opening for Bleach). I still love "Suigintou no Yoru" by Noriaki Sugiyama!! I squealed 'cause he sounded really hot… like Sasuke should sound when he sings… even though the song was for **__**Bleach Beat Collection**__**, but who gives a damn?**_

_Disclaimer__: I don't really own anything, not even the idea since it's based off a bunch of different things that came together into something that sounded good for a story. Life a bitch that way isn't it?_

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All around him, it was wet and clear. He was one of them… one of the fish. Naruto moved in the stream, his attention caught by several of his "fellow species". He was one of them… only… he was the predator of the water.

He pounced. They were caught off guard and jumped out of the waves in surprise, only to be struck by kunai, pinning the three fish to the tree trunk on the side.

Naruto rose from the water, breathing heavily and scowling. Sasuke frowned that there were only three and scolded Naruto, "Move around more. I want some for preservation purposes. Three isn't enough."

"EHH?!"

"I need three more," he explained to his red-faced comrade, "baka…"

"THIS IS REALLY TIRING!!" Naruto yelled at the cocky Uchiha, "WHY DON'T YOU DO IT?!"

Sasuke played stupid and innocently excused himself, "I think Sakura has the fire ready, since I smell smoke, so three is fine."

Naruto still stood in the water, not really understanding what just happened

"Eh? Wait… WAIT FOR ME, KUSO!!"

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Sakura sat in front of the blaze with her knees up to her chin, staring at the fire while her other teammates ate a bit cautiously. She was still in slight shock over her outburst with the Sound nin they encountered, and her companions were worried at the stated that she was in.

"Sakura," Sasuke pulled the fish away from his mouth, "You should eat, to regain your strength. It'll affect the team."

She blankly stated, "I don't really have an appetite."

He sighed, "We're all eating, so you should too. Stop being annoying."

Sakura looked up and nodded, "Hai." She took the one that was left, which was the medium-sized one, since Naruto jumped for the biggest, and Sasuke, being worried about her well-being, left the bigger one for her, taking the smallest and most-burnt one for himself.

"That can't be the only reason you're worried."

She took the warm fish to her lips and started nibbling, only to bring it down, "It… may be possible there aren't anymore Heaven scrolls."

He frowned, "Eh, what do you mean?"

"Four days have passed out of five, meaning eighty percent has been used up," Sakura explained. "Seventy-eight participants, twenty-six teams… Only twelve teams can pass now, ever since Orochimaru burnt the Heaven scroll. There's no guarantee that the others are safe. We also wasted two days to recover from… everything."

Sasuke nodded, "Our next enemy might be our last chance then." He glanced at Sakura who just stared at her fish.

"Eat, you need it."

She bit her lip, but nodded and took slow bites out of the warm filling fish, blushing as well. Sakura couldn't help but enjoy it when he scolded her to take better care of herself, not that she was being irresponsible on purpose… just, hearing him encourage her to look after herself… it made it feel like he cared…

**You know that'll never happen.**

Sakura stared up at herself. _What do you mean?_

**Think about it Sakura-chan**, her other self hissed, **all those other girls… Ino… Tenten… even Hinata… what do they have? They'll try to take him from our very grasp… That would be bad… heartbreaking… painful…**

_They… they wouldn't do that…! Don't…_

**What's keeping them? What's keeping him? We're **_**different**_**. **

Sakura shook her head in denial. _No… Sasuke-kun… he wouldn't do that… _

**They have power, grace, and beauty. What's keeping them, Sakura-chan? You were never friends. How do you know they aren't against you?**

_They just aren't… aren't those kinds of people…!_

**How do you know? The only way you can find happiness with Sasuke-kun is wipe out the competition… make sure they can't breathe a single breath on him…**

_Wipe… them out…?_

**Or… break his heart before he breaks yours…**

_N-no… Sasuke-kun cares for me…_

**You have to kill him… it's that simple. **

_Stop it! Who are you?!_

"WHO ARE YOU?!"

"SAKURA-CHAN!! SAKURA-CHAN!! TEME CAN'T BREATHE!! SAKURA-CHAN!!"

She opened her eyes to see that she was nearly on top of Sasuke, holding his neck with both hands. Sasuke tried to pry her off, but she was sending chakra to her hands to enhance her grip, nearly breaking his neck if he wasn't trying his best to send some to his neck to fight with her perfect control. Naruto was also trying to get Sakura off of him, but he didn't really do anything but look like he was helping.

Sakura immediately jumped off of him, "S-sorry… are you okay…?"

Sasuke turned over and coughed a little before sitting up and holding his neck, "Aa… what was that all about?"

She sat stiffly with her hands in her lap and looked over when he dropped his hands from his neck to show hand-shaped bruises. Sakura looked away and jerked her head to his water container without looking at him, "You should fill that up before we leave."

Sasuke watched her carefully as he reached to his container and started to walk back into the forest to fill it.

"K-kuso…" she whispered as she put a hand to her head. What was going on? All of a sudden, there's this urge to kill everything… everyone… no matter how nice and sweet, innocent and pure… she needed to see blood… Sakura wanted to see bloody cherry blossoms.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto's voice was surprisingly serious, "Is there anything you wanna tell me, now that teme's gone? You've been acting… well not yourself ever since whatever happened at the cave."

"If I wanted to talk to you about it, I would've, so leave me alone."

"D-demo… Sakura-chan…!"

"Shut up."

Naruto froze. What happened to that cheerful powerful kunochi he always knew? Sakura-chan may have scolded him, but never has she said something that… cold… even though it was something he was accustomed to from Sasuke-teme, but not Sakura-chan. She just wasn't that type of person…

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**Minato… I wonder… if you were still alive… what would you do if you knew I was released? You were always so cocky… always believing your silly seals were full-proof. It may have worked for the Kyuubi, but here I am, ne Minato? As I promised, I didn't kill you, but I have to make up for that promise, since you lied to me… I thought you said he was dead… I thought you said your son was dead… **_**liar**_**…**

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"You shouldn't do that."

Sakura looked over to see a silver-haired man crouched over Naruto, like he was holding him back from doing something. She saw that the blonde's thumb was prying the edge of the scroll open. Sakura immediately stood up, in position if this man tried to pull anything on them.

She heard footsteps approaching and looked at the corner of her eye to see Sasuke with his eyes wide. He sprinted over to them, forgetting his original purpose of leaving the two and letting the water pour out of his container.

Sakura sat in her ball position next to Sasuke's feet as the silver-haired man, who introduced himself as Kabuto at the beginning. Team 7 listened to his warning.

"Those who break the rules will be forced into a situation in which they must retire," he explained, "In the last exam, when the scrolls were opened, people would see a sleep-inducing inscription. So they'll remain in this forest until the exams end."

"Your name is Kabuto, right?" Sasuke questioned, "What are you doing here alone?"

He turned away a bit, "It's not like I was after your scroll or anything."

"Right… if you wanted to, you could've stolen it right from Naruto back there… so you're after the scroll of Heaven too?"

"No," Kabuto smirked, "I already have both." He reached into his side pouch to pull out the two scrolls, "See?" He tucked them away again and sighed, "A lot happened, but I was on my way to the tower to meet up with my teammates. Excuse me now."

Kabuto made his way to leave.

"WAIT!"

Sakura's eyes turned into slits when she saw the smirk that crossed the man's face. He turned around to look at Sasuke who addressed him.

"Fight me," Sasuke ordered, "Fight me now."

* * *

Sakura followed Kabuto's lead and only really half-listened to the information he was saying. His appearance seemed harmless, but there was something about the way he watched them, particularly Sasuke, very carefully. There was something very strange about that man.

Now, it was night and they've been walking around the clearing where it seemed like it was safe to stop. The hours have been countless since the stopped at this area and Sakura couldn't take it much more. All of a sudden her body felt heavier than it should've and before she knew it, Sakura was on the ground from exhaustion.

"Sakura-chan!"

She felt someone pull her up gently and saw Sasuke with a grim expression, "I told you that you needed to eat."

Sakura shook her head, "That's… not it. We've been walking forever, but the tower doesn't get closer."

He looked up to see what she was talking about, and saw that it was the same distance ever since they got there. Kabuto smirked at her observation and looked to the side to see the centipede, "It seems we're already inside someone's 'passionate welcome'…"

"Genjutsu?" Sasuke growled as he looked around.

Kabuto nodded, "It seems so. I was completely fooled. They've been trying to get us weaker but having us walk around in circles to use up our strength. Of course the weakest link would've crashed first."

_Weakest link…? Weak…_

Sakura was frozen in her steps and was trapped inside her mind to notice the hundreds of clones surrounding them.

_I was the weakest…? I was just a burden all along…?_

**Sakura-chan…**There it was again… that cold breath that would blow into her ear… taunting her.

**There we go. Now you see? The world just sees us as nothing. We are nothing. We're walked all over. What should we do?**Her body thought on its own, she slowly crouched down with her arms wrapped around her knees.

_I… I don't know…_

**Then I should help you Sakura-chan.**The hundreds of clones made they're way towards the group.

**Let me show you…**They were less than a meter away from attacking.

… **what we can do…**

All of a sudden, the clones exploded into nothing but puddles. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw cuts on his legs and arms… he could even feel some on his back. Sasuke looked at his own cuts to see it was what looked to be petals that were in his wounds.

The hidden Rain nin whispered to each other, "I must've not preformed it fully."

"What are you talking about?! You never mess up on this? S-something happened…."

"**Of course…**" Sakura was behind them with a grim smile, "**No one pays attention to the female minor…**"

"Where's Sakura?!" Naruto asked, panicking as he ran around in pointless circles.

Sasuke looked as well, not being able to detect her chakra, but felt four unfamiliar chakras present.

Kabuto became cautious as well, _what is with this presence I'm feeling?! Where could that little brat gone of to…? Kuso…_

"AGGHHH!!!"

Sasuke and Kabuto turned over to Naruto at the sound of his yell. Sasuke saw him laying on the ground with a bloody body hanging over him.

"GEDDITOFFGEDDITOFFGEDDITOFF NOW!!!!!"

He finally managed to throw the body off. Kabuto went up to examine the body. It looked exactly like the clones… so this must be the person that…

"AGGGHHHH!!!"

Kabuto looked over to see Naruto being pinned down again by two more bodies, both decapitated. Sasuke threw them off of him as quickly as Naruto could, scrambled away from them.

"**Miss me?**"

All three looked over to see Sakura with blood all over her arms and in her hand at the side, the head of one of the bodies. They're legs screamed for them to run, but they couldn't. All three of them were frozen in fear at the girl with a piercing green eye and her hair fallen over half of her face.

_This isn't Sakura… no doubt it's her… but it isn't her chakra… _Sasuke examined the girl to see there was a slightly visible symbol on her head, which was made out to be the word "spring".

Sakura chuckled and threw the head aside, "**Your turn…**"

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_**I hope it wasn't too gory. Heh… I just kinda wanted to emphasize her merciless attitude. There's a link to the drawing of "Inner Sakura" on my profile in case you can't imagine her with her hair over her face. Remember to read the Artist's Note under the drawing since it explains the appearance difference between Sakura and "Inner Sakura".**_

**_Ne, please tell me if I'm going a little too fast cause I think I am... but then if I slow down it might get boring and I don't know... Oh, and I just had this up this morning and got about 15 notifications for people reviewing and such so thanks!! _**

**_Also, thanks a bunch to Kiri-tan (for helping me find my mistakes and correcting them) and TwilightRaver (for reviewing every chapter)! You two stuck since the beginning and I really hope you stick till the end!_**

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_**Hugs and Kisses,  
**__**Lilium :X**_


	5. Memories Were Meant To Fade

_**Oh my God… I'm up to **__**18**__** reviews now!! Le spaz!! Thanks a bunch… but FF is being stupid and not putting my horizontal lines where they're supposed to be!! Oh well, the most important thing is that you can decipher the words, correct? **_

_**Because I'm getting a little scared that I'm rushing my work, this chapter will really be about flashbacks and memories. Sorry if that disappoints you…**_

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_**Mood**__**: HYPER!! I swear I'm going to gain so much weight from the Easter candy  
**__**Status**__**: Talking to my brotha from anotha motha, Tiny!! I talk to him a lot when I start new chapters… he-he…  
**__**Soundtrack**__**: With Me – Sum41 (Yay, first English song!!)**_

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_Disclaimer__: Damn, this is getting depressing… you know I don't own anything so can I just stop doing these without getting sued for piracy? No? You bastards…_

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When was… how long ago was it when Team 7 met each other? Not when they met as Team 7, but as Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura. How long was it when they met each other as lost souls?

Were they around five or six? It was at the start of their entrance into the Ninja Academy. It was all so dull… yet, Sakura saw the memory clearly… the forgotten memory…

_Flashback  
_

"_Well," a tall dark-haired teen sighed as he led his mini-me to the entrance where all the kids were swarming to, "here we are. It's your first day, so try not to cause too much of a ruckus."_

_The teen chuckled and then messed with the little boy's hair. The younger dark-haired male pouted, "Onii-san, there is no point for unnecessary attention. I don't see how I would be a problem. I always listen to kaa-san, tou-san, and you!"_

_The teen chuckled again, "You mean you try to."_

_There were several other students walking by, and a stray blonde flash caught the raven-haired boy's eye._

"_Have a good first day, Sasuke," the older brother said as gave his little brother's head one final ruffle and walking off._

_The small boy turned around and waved franticly, shouting, "Bye onii-san!!"_

_Itachi smiled at his brother's childish ways, but loved him none the less. He felt a small figure run into him and he looked down to see a little girl with pale pink hair."_

"_I'm sorry…" he apologized, "Are you alright?"_

_She looked up nervously and nodded, "H-hai. A-arigato…"_

_He smiled and jerked his head in a way that was supposed to be a nod and walked off to the Hokage Tower to start his day._

_Sakura marveled at him as he walked by very gracefully… and the way he was so caring…_

_She turned to look around at the mobs of students that were pushing around her. This wasn't like books or stories… she realized that she wasn't going to be the heroine of the academy or be noticed or the most popular child in the school. She was… invisible._

_The blonde boy frowned as he blended with the rest of the crowd. No… there was no way he could've blended… he was different. Everyone hated him. Something was made them dislike him, and Naruto never did anything. He did his best to put a smile on everyone's face… to make everyone's day better… but it just seems that he can't get it right._

"_Welcome to your first day at the academy, I'm sure that you'll get accustomed to everything soon," the rather young teacher with a shining polished headband on his forehead, "I am Iruka-sensei. We would start by getting to know each other, ne?"_

"_Hai, Iruka-sensei!"_

_He smiled, "Good, good, well then, let's get started! How about we start with the ones up front then?"_

_Sasuke shuttered a little. He was in the first row. Well, the only reason he was so close was so that he could pay attention and be as strong as his brother one day, but as bright as Sasuke may be, his chances of becoming an ANBU at thirteen were very slim. The boy that was next to him finished and her mentally cursed for sitting in the second seat._

_Sasuke slowly and unsurely stood up, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I haven't figured out what I genuinely like or dislike, but the one thing I'm sure of is that I want to be a great ninja like my onii-san."_

_Naruto puffed his cheeks a little and scoffed as the girls around him swooned when that Sasuke guy sat back down. _

_Several more people when up, half normal enough and the other half a bit strange, like the boy that carried a dog with him on his head… Naruto felt sorry for the guy if the dog wasn't house-broken… then there was also a girl that was in love with sharp objects and a strange boy that ate about two bags of chips when he talked about himself. _

_It was close to his turn. A girl stood up about four seats away from him. He could barely see her eyes because of her pink bangs and the fact that her head was tilted down._

"_Haruno Sakura."_

_She immediately sat back down, not looking embarrassed, but by her actions look like she wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible. Maybe she had some sort of case of agoraphobia… _

_Iruka didn't seem to pay that much attention to her and just let her pass by without saying anything other than her name. That annoyed Sasuke. What gave her the right to be different than everyone else? Why did it seem that he was the only one that was vexed by her behavior? _

_Sasuke's mind didn't work like Sakura's, but like all the other kids in the room and maybe even Iruka's. He was the hero in his story of life. He believed that there was something that made him special, but not sure what yet. Maybe this girl was some that he could only see? Maybe it was… some sort of different being?_

_His thoughts were interrupted by that loud voice that shouted his name, Sasuke immediately forgot about his theories over the pink-haired girl._

"_My name is UKUMAKI NARUTO THE GREAT AND POWERFUL ONE!!"_

_Even though the loud-ass blonde boy was in the back set of rows, Sasuke jumped in his seat in front. His voice seemed to echo, but maybe that was just Sasuke. He always did have exceptional hearing, even compared to Itachi._

_Sasuke looked about at his to see that he climbed up on his desk and proudly bowed as some stiffed giggled. Naruto opened his mouth again, "What I really, really like is ramen and what I really, really dislike… nothing yet! I like a lot of things besides ramen too!! My dream I will accomplish in the end some time! I wish to be Hokage so that everyone stops thinking that I'm nobody and weak!!"_

_Sakura's tiny fists clenched and she whispered to herself, "Baka… it doesn't work like that…"_

_She looked up to see Iruka looking a bit annoyed, but smiling at Naruto's determination. Poor little Sakura frowned again. Every six-year-old should have to have a little attention, but no. _

_She wasn't the most loved one like that Uchiha boy or the one that stands out the most like Naruto. She wasn't the jumpiest one like that Hyuuga Hinata or the smartest like Nara Shikamaru. Sakura wasn't the most posed on like Yamanaka Ino or the most determined one like Rock Lee. Everyone in this room had something they were the top at, but what was she? The pinkest? No, not even that, there was that one girl sitting over there next to her new-found friends with pink everything. _

"_The most invisible?" she whispered to herself, "Aa… that would be handy… a ninja must not be seen, ne?"_

_She felt pathetic… talking to herself… comforting herself… it was pathetic._

"_Now since you all know each other, let's go outside for a bit and make some new friends, ne? Sound like a good idea?" Iruka asked the eager class._

_They all cheered, except for a few, and then made their way to the world through the inner window._

"_I wonder…" Sakura whispered. She stood in place as the kids rushed around her, run towards the door. She stayed in the spot for five minutes. There were no footsteps heard anywhere near the room. Sakura walked over to the window to see that Iruka-sensei was playing with a few other children that were tugging him in every direction._

_Sakura felt like in a situation like this, she should feel some sort of liquid spill from her eyes. She rubbed her eye and looked at her hand… dry._

_She looked out the window again, hoping that someone would… someone should notice the girl with pink hair is missing… only to slump down, lonely with her knees pulled up to her chin and her face buried in her folded arms under the table that was next to the window._

"_Naruto, you go RIGHT back inside, NOW!"_

"_IRUKA-SENSEI!! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!!"_

"_Slamming that child's ice cream cone in his face to create a legacy is NOT a great way to start the first day!! NOW GO INSIDE!!"_

_Naruto pouted, but slowly sulked inside. He wanted to stick his tongue out at Iruka-sensei when he yelled out after him, "AND NO BREAKING AND ENTERING OTHER'S CLASSROOMS NARUTO!!"_

_He grumbled as he dragged his feet, "Might as well say that this is a building to suck the fun out of everything!"_

_Naruto huffed as he slammed the door open only to slam it closed once more. Sakura jumped at the loud sound and peeked from under the table to see that strange spiky-haired blonde boy._

_She whispered to herself as he was grumbling on about Iruka-sensei being mean and not letting him have any fun, "Maybe… he would like to be my friend…"_

_Sakura sunk back into hiding and shook her head, "B-baka…"_

_She strained to get some tears out. That's what she really wanted… as strange as it sounded. It was just one of those days where you need to get tears out. You just need to cry. Sakura felt those days every day when she saw people with their friends and playing. Why didn't anyone see her as a friend? Why didn't anyone see her as a human?_

_Naruto didn't even pay attention to the little rustling sound Sakura made because she was shifting her position a little… but eventually a little dark-haired boy came in from the window, acknowledging her presence._

_Hopefully, Iruka-sensei won't yell at Sasuke for leaving the rest of them._

"_Sasuke-kun~! SASUKE-KUN~!"_

_He frowned as he tried to blend with the bush next to the building. Sasuke didn't understand why these girls kept following him. He wanted to make friends with both genders, but these kinds of girls didn't really care about shurikin practice or sparring for fun. That Tenten girl already left to play with Hyuuga Neji, and he doesn't seem to like Sasuke very much, so Sasuke avoided him._

"_SASUKE-KUN~!"_

_Their voice stared getting more distant, meaning that they were moving away from where he was hiding, but they were moving back with Iruka-sensei and the group, meaning Sasuke couldn't go back there, but if he stays here, he's bound to get caught._

_Sasuke looked over at the other side and saw the door the building, but it made too much noise and who would come into the build at this hour? He sighed and looked up at the sky… well more like a large tree. It was in the way of his view… wait a minute…_

_Sasuke looked at where the tree stretched to. Its braches traveled all the way to the window, which he remembered was the window to their classroom… hopefully it was. Sasuke looked at the tree nervously and then looked back to see if anyone was coming. Sasuke bit his lip before attacking the tree, quickly hoisting himself up from its trunk._

_This was one of the days that he was so thankful for his mother's choice of dark-colored clothing. Even though the sun's heat rays were dawning on him much heavier than other kids, he couldn't be seen because of the great branches._

_Sasuke looked down as he neared the window, "It's… high, but I'm gonna make it…"_

_He looked forward at the open window and carefully placed his foot on the frame. "I'm gonna make it…"_

_All of a sudden, his foot slipped from underneath him and he found himself falling through the classroom window… but he didn't feel the tile hit him like it was supposed to. Instead, he fell on something soft and warm._

_At first he though that Kami-sama was looking out for him and had devised a mattress of angels' feathers, fallen from their wings, like his mother would say, but looked down to see to his horror that he was lying on top of that weird pink-haired girl, her face pressing to the cold tile._

_He jumped off the girl as fast as he could and blushed horribly since he just sat on her on her. Sasuke expected the pink-haired girl to cry like most girls would after being jumped and slammed to the ground, but instead, she just sat back up, pulling her knees to her chin and stared at her feet again._

"_A-ano…" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her strange actions, "I'm sorry I fell on you."_

_She didn't show any signs of hearing him. Sasuke was getting a bit annoyed, but then remember that this was the girl that seemed to be a figment of his imagination. Sasuke tried again, "Are you okay…?"_

_Again, she either didn't see or hear him, or she was ignoring him. Sasuke frowned and kneeled in front of her and poked her forehead so that her head tipped back. Her eyes widened at the contact and looked to see how poked her. Sakura looked straight into his annoyed onyx eyes._

"_Are you awake?"_

_Sasuke, with his Uchiha attitude, didn't like to be ignored, so was fed up with trying to nice with the girl. He raised an eyebrow as she stared at him with her wide shocked green orbs and nodded._

_He furrowed his eyebrows, "Then you should answer. It's rude to ignore people."_

_She frowned and yelled, "I-I wasn't ignoring you! Just that…" the girl's voice softened and she looked away with frustrated eyes, "Normally… people don't talk to me… so… I'm used to it…"_

_Sasuke's expression changed into slight shock. Most normal people would want to talk to a girl with pink hair! How unique is that? She should be the center of attention almost! The way that girl said it… it sounded a bit like she was just a shadow._

"_HEY!! DID YOU JUST FALL THROUGH THE WINDOW?!"_

_Sasuke turned around to see that very loud boy that proclaimed his existence to the world. It's hard to forget people that jump on tables and scream their names. Uzumaki Naruto was it? Yeah, that was it. The boy that claims he WILL be Hokage._

_Sasuke then remembered how he fell, "Aa…"_

_Naruto frowned deeply, "You should get more practice with flying then…"_

"_I-I wasn't FLYING, dobe!"_

"_Don't call me a dobe!! TEME!!"_

_Sasuke was about to open his mouth and yell back an insult when he remembered that girl. He turned to look at her, and then saw her in her position again: knees to chin, head focused on the ground._

"_Eh?" Naruto squinted at Sasuke, wondering what he was looking at that pulled his attention away completely and craned his neck to see what Sasuke was so intent on. "Who are you?"_

_Sakura wasn't completely sure whether or not he was talking to her, but then thought that Naruto was addressing Sasuke so didn't make any move, just like with Sasuke._

_Sasuke crouched down and poked her, "He's talking to you this time."_

_She widened her eyes and looked up to see that Naruto was staring at her. She blushed from his completely-focused gazed and frowned as she looked away, "S-Sakura… Haruno Sakura."_

_All of a sudden, she felt herself being pulled up and her arm shaking so hard and fast that Sakura could almost swear that it would pop off._

_Her hand was linked with Naruto's well-tanned hand and looked up to his friendly smile, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! It's great to meet you!!"_

_After what seemed to be forever, Naruto finally let go. Sakura, as if she was scared that she might actually take her arm and rip it off, pulled arm back cradling it. She heard a different voice stifled a chuckle and then looked over to see a cocky looking Sasuke, finding amusement out of her silliness._

_She was about to yell at him to not laugh at her, but then remembered. She was curious about him. He was the first one that actually talked to her face-to-face… nicely in a way._

"_Ano…" she looked away, "Who are you?"_

_He stopped thinking about her silly antics to answer her, "Uchiha Sasuke… but just Sasuke will be fine."_

"_Sasuke…"_

_He studied her expression for a minute before getting an idea, "Since you are my new friends, can I show you something?"_

_Naruto squinted again in suspicion, but slowly nodded. Sakura did as well, a bit light-headed to really question what her new friend was going to do._

_Friend…_

_That was enough for her. She didn't care what he had to show. Sakura was eventually broken out of her trance by the sound of music from… a music box…?_

_Sakura looked at Sasuke, who was holding a plain wooden box, opened. It didn't really have much fancy decoration, but to Sakura, the golden plates on the inside and out made it beautiful enough for her._

"_This is kinda a sad song…" Naruto complained._

"_No."_

_Both boys looked at Sakura in shock. She blushed before smiling, "It's… it's pretty…"_

_Sasuke grinned a barely noticeable grin, "Kaa-san thought so too. She says that the name of the song, 'Prunus'… means 'cherry blossom' so I thought you might like it."_

_Sakura smiled at his sincerity and bowed, not noticing the liquid that was spilling out of her eyes, "A-arigato…"_

_He didn't understand why she chose to cry now, but he knew that he didn't want a friend crying. He closed the box and the music stopped. He frowned and grunted, "Don't cry… it's… irritating…"_

_End Flashback_

"**Prunus…**" Sakura whispered as pain struck her body all over. She dropped the head at her side to struggle in trying to still stand up. Her hands flew to her head as she clutched it, groaning as if she was fighting something back.

Sasuke and Naruto watched in terror as their teammate struggled with her own mental battle. Kabuto was trying to figure out what was happening.

"**There's no place…**" she muttered, clutching her head, "**I have to make a place…**"

She stopped squirming and let go of her short locks. Sakura's stance was straight again, but she was shaking.

"Why… why is there so much blood…?" she whispered in shock, terrified of the headless bodies that surrounded her as well as the head at her feet.

Sakura back up even more, "Wh-what happened…?!"

_I'd like to know that myself_, Sasuke thought to himself as she watched Sakura freak out at the bodies like the Sakura he knew would, _Sakura… what's going on…?_

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_**Whoa… this was really long!! BTW, sorry for the late update… I have a HUGE play going on and I don't get home until seven, and I still have to do schoolwork because I have a presentation over euthanasia…**_

_**Wha'cha think then? I love reviews… and that really gets me pumped!! Ha-ha… I hope it wasn't rushed (I'm really self-conscious about my work)! **_

_**Well, you know what's coming up next, the Ino VS Sakura fight! This should be intense because something is living in Sakura's body… and it has a bloodlust worst than Gaara's...**_

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_**Hugs and Kisses,  
**__**Lilium :X**_


	6. It's Not a Statement, It's a DeathWish

_**Yosh! Before the chapter starts, I just wanna say that… **_

_**OHMYGODIJUSTGOT**__**23**__**REVIEWS!! YAYY!! Thanks again to **__**TwilightRaver**__** and **__**Kiri-tan**__**!! **_

_**Alright, I FINALLY reached my goal!! Yay!! (Well, actually, my real goal is that this story reaches **__**1000**__** reviews eventually… but **__**20**__** reviews is my smaller goal!!)**_

_**Le HYPERVENALATE!!**_

_**Mk, I'm done… Lol…**_

_**I'm getting really, REALLY pissed at the fact that my best friend just got a FF and that annoying wannabes at my school copy me!! The only one I will tolerate that has an FF is **__**Nashi411**__**!! Everyone else is annoying. Plus… they kinda think that anime/manga is different… **_

_**OH FUCKING WELL!! Ahaha… time to stop my little 'journal time' and start with the long awaited chapter, ne?**_

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_**Mood**__**: Smart!! Ha-ha…  
**__**Status**__**: Just got back from the first night of the play!! Exhausted… but hey! I had fun with my homeboy Tiny… ugh… I don't even wanna hear the title "**__**The Music Man**__**" or I might go nuts…  
**__**Soundtrack**__**: It's Not a Fashion Statement it's a Fucking Deathwish – MCR (My Chemical Romance)**_

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_Disclaimer__: Blah, blah, blah, blah… no own… blah, blah, blah… damnit._

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Sasuke stared at the unconscious pink-haired, bloody girl in his arms as they made their way up to tower. Sakura fainted from shock after seeing the decapitated bodies which Sasuke didn't really fully understand since she was the one that… he didn't even want to reminisce on the dead Rain nin. Maybe it's just because that his clan members were found headless on the night they… Itachi…

He shook it off as they stopped in front of the pairs of doors.

Rustling was heard from the trees on the side as two masked men slowly made their way out of the forest.

"You're late," one figure grunted. It was difficult to tell which since they were both wearing masks and looked alike as well.

He chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "Eh, sorry, we… got held back a bit."

"Arigato Kabuto."

He turned around, shocked to hear the voice of the tired girl. Sakura's eyes were open hall-way. She looked and him and frowned, "I don't like you… but you got us this far… so… thanks…"

They stared at each other for a while before Kabuto nodded, "It was nothing compared to what you did, Sakura." He sighed as he rejoined his teammates and stood in front of the door. Kabuto bid them on final farewell, "This is it, Naruto-kun, Sakura, Sasuke-kun… good luck."

Naruto grinned his signature idiotic grin and everything seemed to be forgotten. The atmosphere lightened and Kabuto smiled warmly back. Sasuke even managed to crack a small smirk. Sakura… Sakura was still limply lying in Sasuke's warm, safe arms, too worried and stressed to be smiling the way that she used to.

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Kabuto and his team entered into their door, disappearing, as Cell 7 readied themselves at their own door. The seal was broken and they all entered the empty building, finding themselves standing in front of a large sign.

"Well…" Orochimaru smirked, "It looks like I really did pick out the wrong vessel. Whatever's inside that girl would be much more useful than those Uchiha eyes, ne?"

Kabuto frowned and looked away, "I wouldn't say that. That boy was able to stop her in her murderous state at the fight with the Sound… remember? Those eyes must have something to do with it. She was even about to kill her own teammate… We shouldn't stick around to find out what kind of demon she is."

"So you confirm the fact that she's a demon?"

"I'm not denying it," Kabuto grunted to his master, "But something isn't right… You know how when demons are released, they usually show some trait of their animal by growling or snarling?"

"Yes…"

Kabuto frowned even deeper, "She had a look of pure… bloodlust on her face instead of no self control… like the girl knew exactly what she was going to do and how she was going to get what she wants."

Orochimaru grew impatient at the long pause that Kabuto held, "Anything else…?"

"Aa…" Kabuto's voice dropped down to a dark whisper, "… is there any reference of the phrase 'Spring of Crimson Tears'?"

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"Eh, Sasuke-kun…" Sakura grunted as she gently pushed his strong arms away, "I'm alright fine now…"

He frowned, but none the less released her, the heavy warmth leaving his arms and around her body. She stumbled on her feet a little bit before steadily standing up.

Sakura tried to decipher what Sasuke just read out loud. Naruto was still squinting in confusion at the board while Sasuke's face was hard and took in the information.

"It's time…"

Naruto and Sasuke looked with puzzled expressions at their only female teammate. Naruto finally broke the strange silence, "Eh… what do you mean Sakura-chan?"

She frowned and pulled out the Scroll of Earth from her hip pack. Sasuke immediately understood and nodded to her.

"Err… e-eh?! What are you doing Sakura-chan?!"

She started to pry the edge of the scroll. What happened to all of those warnings that Kabuto-san gave them just a minute ago?!

"Opening the scrolls, dobe…"

"I understand that, teme!!" Naruto yelled and then pulled out the bloodied scroll of Heaven, "Demo… you sure it's time…?"

"Aa."

Naruto looked up at the dried crust on the kunochi's face and then at her confident eyes. A simple glance at the dark blood got everything inside of him trembling. Everything inside that affected his physical body.

He stared at the scroll in his hand in horror, following the dark trail of blood. Naruto slowly stared back up at her face… arms… legs… the sickening scent of the blood… of those that she killed.

"Naruto."

He broke out of his trance to look up at her green eyes. She said calmly, "It's time to open them."

He stared back at her emerald eyes and then decided that the best place to look down was at his feet, "H-hai… Sakura-chan…"

They both picked at the edge of the scroll and slowly rolled it open, adding to the suspense.

"Wh-what…?"

Sakura stared at her scroll in confusion and muttered out the insignia on the paper, "Person?"

Naruto squinted at the scroll in his hands, "Jin?"

The cogs and workings of Sasuke's mind put the two pieces together and his eyes widened as the paper seemed to bubble up.

"Naruto, Sakura, get rid of those now!"

They looked at each other before throwing the scrolls as far away as possible from them and watched as smoke erupted.

Naruto took a step forward as he recognized the faint figure that was starting to emerge from the clouds.

He grew a faint smile as their former teacher stepped into visible light and out of the hidden smoke.

"Naruto?" Iruka raised an eyebrow as his students' shocked expression and then smiled, "Hey, it's great to see you all again." Iruka then remembered his duties for being here in the first place and reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pocket watch, "And looks like you made it just in time too."

Naruto frowned at his spacey attitude, "What are you talking Iruka-sensei?"

The older chuunin snapped the watch shut and tucked it away again inside the safety of his pocket, "Congratulations, you passes the second round of your exams. Now, I would love to treat you all to Ichiraku ramen, but…"

Naruto didn't even let his former-teacher finish was he was about to say and cut him off by pouncing on him.

"Naruto! What are you…?!"

"YAYY~!! RAMEN~! RAMEN~! RAMEN~!!"

Iruka was about to tell Naruto the 'but' to the situation, but decided to let the hyperactive blonde have his moment. Iruka smiled and shook his head in disbelief slightly. After all this time and experience with missions and in the Forest of Death, he _still_ hasn't matured one bit.

Sakura sighed and felt her legs collapse beneath her. She fell into Sasuke's arms again and then they both landed on the floor.

"You know," he groaned, pulling his arms away from her, letting the exhausted girl regain energy, "You're heavier than you look."

"Aa…" she sighed, cupping her forehead in her head and closing her eyes, as if fighting something back in her mind.

Sasuke was taken back a little bit. The last time he told her that, Sakura went on a full-fledge diet and ran her ass off, starving herself on top of all that exercising. Sasuke stared at her while she had her battle with herself that he was not able to see.

He looked at her, slightly worried, _Sakura… why didn't you ever tell us anything… what's going on…?_

Sakura wasn't really having a battle with whatever took over her like Sasuke predicted. In fact, more like she was having trouble accepting what she was. Even though it seemed like everyone was able to recover so quickly from what just happened, the events that took place in the forest scarred her.

_Now… this must be what Sasuke felt after Itachi killed off his clan…_ Sakura thought to herself. _Loneliness that no one knows… that no one understands… but no one does understand… having someone precious killed is different from being the killer… the one that inflicted the pain…_

Sakura shuddered slightly when she thought of the Uchiha Massacre. She just shook it off and assumed that she just was affected because she could relate in a way. That's what she thought… but still. It felt… not right… thinking about how Itachi killed them all… _Itachi_…

She looked up at the student-teacher reminiscing that was taking place and couldn't stand to watch anymore, "Iruka… sensei, what is that sign on the wall for?"

"Eh? That doesn't matter now Sakura-chan," Naruto frowned at her. Her eye twitched at his comment.

She gritted her teeth and managed to growl out, "It wouldn't be there for no reason, dumb-ass."

Iruka smiled and stared at all of his students, "Sakura's right. You see, Heaven represents the mind. Earth represents the body. If you have and equal balance, you will have less problems and will truly become skilled shinobi and kunochi."

He turned to look at the blonde that was squinting at the sign in confusion, "Naruto." The blonde boy turned his head to his teacher that just called his name. Iruka frowned, "You need to develop your mind more."

"And Sakura," her eyes narrowed at the sound of her name uttered from her former-teacher's lips, "You need to work your body. You're weak now, and that won't…"

Her fist clenched and she felt power starting to engulf her again… before Sasuke interrupted the man, "Mind and body work together creates harmony. We understand."

Iruka sighed, "You were always sharp…"

"Hn. Can we just go on?"

"Wait, be patient," he ordered, "There's still another part of the Second Exam."

Naruto cocked his head to the side like a puppy, "What are you talking about?"

Iruka groaned, shaking his head, "Jeez… you guys really are the question-askers, but never really the listeners, are you?"

* * *

Sakura stood next to Sasuke in the mob of Rookie Nine and what looked like to be the Sand and Sound nin among the cluster. She marveled at how many that actually passed. According to Anko, there's usually just about ten or less, but in the stadium, there were twenty-one students.

"Looks like every rookie from Konoha is here," she whispered to herself.

**So many, ne?**

Sakura stared at the menacing emerald pair of eyes gazing at her, making the atmosphere uncomfortable.

_Wh-what?_

**So many in our way… **

Sakura looked out again at the students that surrounded her. Twenty-one seemed like a small number in her mind, but it turns out to be a lot more when you have twenty-one people.

She bit on her thumb, "I guess that means I have to kill again…" Sakura suddenly caught her words, "W-wait… did I just say 'kill'?"

Darkness surrounded her consciousness again.

_What's wrong with me?! Why do I always think about killing?!_Cold breath was right on cue.

**We don't have a place in the world, Sakura-chan. We have to MAKE a place. That's what we were born to do. Kill… why else would we be here, living? We're different Sakura-chan. We're different because instead of giving life… we take life… why are you acting this way? What happened in the forest was not our first kill… you should remember that…**

_Shut up…_

**We have to kill…**

_S-shut up…_

**We were made to kill…**

"SHUT UP!!"

Sakura clutched her head and gritted her teeth. What was with her?! What was this voice that kept invading her thoughts?! She couldn't think straight…

Blood… death… harm… revenge… hatred… those were the only things that went through her mind. She wasn't herself… and she didn't know what was wrong.

"Excuse me?"

She looked up to see the Hokage himself along with the jonin leaders staring at her like she was a demon. Sakura blushed lightly and then looked away, "Gomenasai… Sandaime-sama…"

The Sandaime coughed before grunting, "Alright then, shall we continue on with the tournament?"

"Hai Sandaime-sama!"

The Sound nins never guessed that they would be there. Sakura damaged Kin and Zaku very seriously. In fact, she managed to slice through a major tissue and on top of that, blinded Zaku, not that it was a major problem. All he needed to get revenge was his ears, arms, and legs.

Zaku growled at the sound of her voice and touched the cloth that covered his eyes, "It's that bitch's voice…"

He dropped his arms and clenched his fists so hard that he could feel the blood draining out of it and his hand growing cold and slightly numb.

"I'll make her pay… for my eyes…"

Sakura looked down at her arms. Sasuke glanced at his pink-haired teammate with hard eyes. He couldn't let her fight. This was for everyone else. Her massacre state seemed to be triggered when she was in battle. He couldn't risk letting her go out there and just slaughter people without a second thought.

He slowly started walking forward, ready to report to the Hokage that she was able to battle with a tiny tug on the hem of his shirt.

Sasuke looked back to see Sakura, her head tilted to the ground, not letting him see her face.

"Don't do it."

He frowned, "I don't think you should be the one talking, Sakura."

She whispered so that he could barely hear her, yet her voice was crystal clear, "You don't tell on me, I won't do the same to you."

"What are you talking about?"

Sakura grimaced, "That mark, on your neck… it isn't just a tattoo… You don't tell on me, I won't do the same to you, Sasuke-kun."

He glared at her, his hand moving up to trance over the symbol that was given to him. Sasuke frowned. He knew she was right. They were both unstable at the moment, but both wanted to compete, didn't they? It would've been a waste… working hard to get all the way to where they were only to forfeit.

Sakura studied as his face softened and his body pulled back, no longer stiff, and pulled her hand back, now seeing that he understood why she did what she did.

"Attention!"

They returned their attention to the new shinobi that now stood before them, coughing.

He lowered his hand after finishing with a last cough and introduced himself, "I will be the judge for the preliminary rounds of the Chuunin Exams. I am Gekkou Hayate and allow me to explain the rules."

* * *

One after another… another victory… the winner was announced by the diseased judge… another round would continue after the other… more injures… more pain… the scent of rust and salt cloaked the auditorium… in Sakura's mind.

They were all reunited with their leaders once again, but instead of feeling at home again, she only felt lonelier than before.

While she was standing the in crowd, she thought that Kakashi-sensei was looking at her, wondering why she was cloaked with red. Maybe he would ask if she was injured or even if she fell into a berry bush, but nothing. His eyes marveled at how Naruto and Sasuke grew.

Maybe that was one of the reasons that lead on her bloodlust. Of course, no one asked anything. No one asked why her eyes were a bright red, why she was holding herself, why she was shaking and breathing unevenly. Not one question.

Maybe that was another reason that provoked her.

She didn't know. No one knows. All she knew, was that she wanted to see red… the warmth of it splatter her face… the sound of pained cries.

**Kill.**

_Wh-what…?_

**You've been thinking about it. I know. Your opponent… you will kill.**

_Demo… why would I…?_

**It's the only way to stop it… Sakura-chan. You're shaking… can you understand? We're threatened… you're reacting, ne? How do we stop that? Kill.**

… _I have to…_

Maybe if Sasuke was there, maybe he would've been able to snap Sakura out of her state. Maybe he would've asked her all those questions that no one asked her before. Maybe he would've worried about her, or make sure that she was alright, or ask why she was like this after just two matches…

No, three matches.

Sakura didn't even look at the panel to see who the next match was between. She stared at the damage on the arena.

"My opponent… I will kill…" she whispered so no one heard.

She felt a large hand on her shoulder and looked up to Kakashi.

He pointed to the screen, "I don't think this is the time to be spacing out."

Sakura turned her head and looked at the two green names… hers… and then…

"Ino-pig…"

Who could forget the time when Sakura and Ino stuck like glue? How Ino would defend Sakura when she was teased?

Then, who would've guessed that Ino would be the one to be that exception to Sakura's personal vow. It seemed that no one remembered the events that took place in the Forest, well except for a few…

… and by few, Shikamaru was one of them.

He took his teammate by the shoulder and spun her around to have her face-to-face with him.

"Ino, you can't go against Sakura," he whispered harshly, "Just forfeit."

Her cerulean eyes hardened, "We didn't go all this way to quit, Shika-kun."

"Are you forgetting what happened with Sound?!"

Ino looked away and frowned, "Of course not… but… maybe that was just with people that she didn't know… because…"

She looked up at his worried eyes, "I've never seen her like that."

He sighed, giving up, but because he also saw her point. Sasuke was able to stop her, and he had a connection with her. Ino has never experienced her rival like that, and Sakura would probably work as hard as she could to beat her former-best-friend.

"Just… just be careful…"

"… Hai…"

He released his grip on her shoulders and let Ino walk off to get ready.

"Ne, Shika-kun?"

Shikamaru looked up to see her smiling a soft, true smile.

"Thanks for worrying."

Ino made her way to stand in front of Sakura. She noticed that the pink-haired girl's face was blank. Gekkou called for them to start fighting, but neither of them moved.

Sakura tilted her head up to get a good look at Ino, and memories flooded back. She couldn't… she just couldn't…

"Hit me."

Ino backed up and widened her eyes, "Wh-what are you talking about Forehead-Girl?!"

"I want you to hit me. I… I want you to get the chance to compete… but I don't want to hurt you…"

Shikamaru frowned from the stands, "Kuso… what is she planning…?"

Ino growled and raised her fist, "Don't take me so lightly, Sakura!"

Sakura gazed at her fist that was charging at her. She felt Ino's knuckles collide with her face. Of course, it hurt, but she could forget all of that in exchange for Ino's safety.

She didn't care. Sakura let Ino land one hit after another on her. She didn't want to kill her. She couldn't kill her.

Sakura was knocked on the floor and slowly stood back up to let Ino land hit after hit on her.

She assumed that if she let Ino continuously hit her, she wouldn't have to kill her.

Naruto gripped the bars of railing and wondered out loud, "Sakura-chan! What are you doing?!"

Kakashi glanced at Naruto and then looked back at Ino, who was using all of her strength in kicking and punching Sakura.

"What are you thinking, Sakura?"

Everyone watched the unusual fight take place: Sakura, not making a move, unless to stand, and then Ino, trying to beat the crap out of Sakura. One after another, they listened to the echoing hits. Sakura would get knocked down, but then stand right back up. She wouldn't do anything else.

Gekkou wondered if he should just say that the pink-haired girl forfeited, since she isn't making a move, but like everyone else, he presumed that she was had something panned.

As long as it lasted, no one person got tired of watching. They all thought that Sakura had some trick up her sleeve, and didn't want to miss it.

Sakura didn't have any trick or plan. Ino didn't fall into any trap, because there was no trap. Everyone just assumed. They didn't know. Sakura didn't care for winning. She didn't care for being a chuunin anymore… she just wanted Ino to be able to fight her, but not get hurt.

"THAT'S IT!!"

Ino threw her arms down and panted, "You're using all of your chakra for defense, so punching you over and over would be useless!!"

The blonde-haired girl raised her hands up in a seal.

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_**Well, I guess I kinda lied. It wasn't really the full fight between Ino and Sakura. It was more like the rising action…**_

_**I just got the Naruto art book!! Yay! I saw one weapon that Masashi Kishimoto draws a lot for Sakura, so I might use that for future chapters.**_

_**Well, I'm tired as hell. Only a few more days of school left, so test and exams!! Oh well, at least I'm getting some time to spend with my friends…**_

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_**Hugs and Kisses,  
**__**Lilium :X**_


	7. Slice The Stone, It Bleeds

_**Wee!! I'm happy and upset at the same time… you see… my reviews went up to **__**29**__**! The reason I'm upset with that is because… **_

_**I'MONLY**__**1**__**REVIEWAWAYFROMGETTING**__**30**__**REVIEWS!!!**_

_**Ugh… so close, yet, so far…**_

_**But then again, I'm lucky to get any reviews at all, so I shouldn't be complaining, ne?**_

_**I made a new friend! Yay! **__**TwilightRaver**__** is really fun to talk to! Ha-ha… ILY my frequent reviewer!!**_

* * *

_**Mood**__**: Well, how would you feel after you feel into the crap-colored pond at the mini-golf course, attacked with frosting, and went into the men's restroom at the park with a bunch of guys as well (Lilium's female people!)?  
**__**Status**__**: Going through FFs and thinking how much some of them suck nowadays…  
**__**Soundtrack**__**: When September Ends – Green Day**_

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_Disclaimer__: Seriously, the only thing I own is a laptop and a flashdrive… oh, and two color manga art books (__Naruto__ and __Bleach__)… and a sketchbook… and pastels… and brush-markers… Ok, so I own a lot of things… but __Naruto__ is not one of them._

* * *

_Flashback_

_Sakura sat alone at a lunch table by herself, humming and staring at the vase that was sitting in front of her. She didn't mind that she was alone this time. Sasuke and Naruto were both going through tough times so didn't really want to talk to anyone. She understood that more than anyone._

_Even though that was a year ago…_

_They were her only friends. She was willing to look past all of that. She just wanted her friends to be happy._

_That's all she wanted._

_Sakura felt like today was something special. Well, of course it was something special._

_She made a new friend._

_Even though her friend wasn't the type of friend that could go to the academy with her or she could talk to and get a response. In fact, her new friend wasn't even human or could even talk._

"_Arf, arf!!"_

_Sakura's eyes widened as she walked over to the window and put a finger to her lips, giving a small brown puppy that was hidden in the bushes and scolding look, "Shh… if they find out about you, they'll do mean things to you like me…"_

"_Talking to yourself again, Forehead?"_

_She turned about to come face to face with Ami and two other girls. _

_Sakura never understood. Sasuke always told her that people would like her if she tried to reach out more. Why was Ami so mean to her? Why did she always bring Sasuke-kun into every meeting between them? Maybe she hated Sasuke…?_

_But how could anyone hate him?_

_He was so nice…_

_But then again… the keyword is 'was'._

"_Hey Forehead Girl, pay attention when I'm talking to you!!" the purple-haired girl screamed as she pushed Sakura backwards._

_Sakura stumbled, not being able to catch herself in time and then skidded across the linoleum floor._

_Ami glared at her for a minute and then flipped the long side of her hair over her shoulder, "That's what freaks like you get. Sasuke deserves better. That's probably why he never talks to you anymore."_

_The trio of girls headed towards the door before their so-called leader stopped to stare at the contents on top of the table._

_Ami pushed the rosette girl down pretty hard. Sakura had burning ground burns from sliding. The girl blinked back some tears of pain. She wasn't going to cry. Not in front of Ami… Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't want her to cry._

_She had to be strong for Sasuke…_

"_Oh freak~!"_

_Sakura turned her head towards the direction of the sickeningly cruel sing-song voice._

_There was Ami, smirking, in her hand, Sakura's carton of milk getting poured all over her tan shoulder-bag._

_Sakura watched as the girl and her friends laughed as Ami let the rest of the white milk trickle and soak into her bag with all of her jutsu, shinobi history, and hand-to-hand combat books._

_Ami finished off the rest of the carton and threw it to the side. Snickering along with her accomplices, getting ready to make a dramatic exit when…_

_A blonde-haired girl burst through the door, blocking Ami's way._

_The trio was not expecting anyone to come in._

"_Get out of the way, Yamanaka," Ami growled._

_Yamanaka Ino did not budge. She stood in her spot, looking at Ami's facial expression, then to the dripping book-bag, and then to Sakura, who was clutching her elbows, which were bright red._

_Ino's face pulled up into a scowl. Then, the blonde-haired girl yelled down the hallway, "Iruka-sensei! Ami and her friends are picking on Haruno again!"_

_Ami hissed as Ino as she heard their teacher's steps approaching, "Kuso! Yamanaka, you're gonna regret that!"_

_Ino simply giggled and flicked the purple-haired girl's forehead, "Hai, Ami-chan!"_

_She was just about to pounce on that Yamanaka girl when Iruka arrived._

_He frowned at Ami's furious face and the other two girls' growling, "You three girls come with me. Ino, can you take care of Sakura and then take her to the nurse?"_

"_Hai, Iruka-sensei," Ino nodded._

_Iruka thanked her and then led the trio out of the small room to meet their face. Ino couldn't help but stick her tongue out at Ami as she sulked by. After all, Ino couldn't miss that golden opportunity._

_The blonde then remembered why she was still in that room and took a break from her taunting to turn to the pink-haired girl how was staring in awe at her. _

_Ino fidgeted uncomfortably under the pink-haired girl's intense gaze, "Err… I think we should get your bag cleaned off."_

_Yamanaka Ino didn't know Haruno Sakura that well. In fact, Ino didn't think that anyone knew Sakura that well besides Naruto and Sasuke. _

_She didn't know Naruto and Sasuke that well either to have any idea about Sakura. She thought that boys were stupid and her daddy taught her that all boys had cooties until they were daddies._

_So Ino tried to avoid boys. Cooties could be deadly._

_Still, the blonde couldn't help but wonder about the quiet pink-haired girl. Sakura didn't really do anything to get attention. All Ino knew was that Ami and her friends wanted something that had to do with Sasuke, which she didn't understand, but she made no effort to warn the pompous girl about cooties. Ami was one of those people that were better off out of everyone's life._

_Mostly Sasuke's… _

_Ino pitied the Uchiha boy… having people like Ami trail after him like a lost puppy must be pretty hard._

"_There," Ino sighed as she washed off the last of the milk that was on the tan bag, "I think most of it got off."  
_

_Ino stacked all of Sakura's clean books and slid them into her bag then handed them to her. The blond put her hands on her hips, "We should probably get you to the nurse now, ne?"_

_Sakura made no response. She just stared at the bag in her arms. Ino sighed again and shook her head._

_She bent down and gently poked her forehead._

_Sakura snapped out of her trance and looked up, expecting to see Sasuke. She was met by clear cerulean eyes instead of deep onyx ones and stumbled back a bit from shock._

_Ino frowned and then pouted, "Hey, why do you let Ami pick on you?"_

"_E-eh..?"_

"_Really, you shouldn't let a brat like that get the better of someone like you," Ino continued her lecture._

_Sakura tilted her head in confusion, "Some… someone like me…?"_

_She nodded and crossed her arms, "Well, look at you! I know for a fact that you're strong since I've seen you practice with Uchiha and Uzumaki before. Ami can barely get a kunai to hit a target that's one feet away. You have something to be proud about!"_

"_I… I do?"_

_Ino smiled and nodded, "Yup!" Her face fell a little as Ino looked at her feet, not being able to make eye contact with what she was about to say next, "I… I'm sorry that Sasuke and Naruto don't talk to you anymore… and I don't know why…"_

_Sakura's face fell as well, "Th-that's okay… I mean… I understand for them…"_

"_Well, I'll be here for you!"_

_Her breathing stopped for a minute. Sakura looked up at Ino's determined eyes, "W-what do you mean?"_

"_My daddy explained to me that boys have cooties which make them mean and that they'll hurt girls," Ino told Sakura, "Sasuke and Naruto hurt you, so I'll never leave you like they did. Besides, I know some other girls that would love to be friends with you!"_

"_R-really?!"_

_Ino smiled and nodded, "Really!"_

_She looked at Sakura, who was holding one of the burns on her arms. Ino frowned and pried the rosette's hand off her arm, then dragging her out of the restroom down the hall, "We should get you to the nurse!"_

"_I-Ino, n-not so fast!!"_

_Haruno Sakura let Yamanaka Ino drag her away…_

_She left with a true smile that hasn't shown in a year._

_End Flashback_

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!!"

Kakashi knew. Naruto knew. Everyone in the stadium knew.

Sakura could've easily dodged Ino's attack.

Everyone knew that the Yamanaka's famous Mind Transfer Jutsu. They knew how powerful it was. They knew how slowly it moved.

What they didn't know was why Sakura didn't dodge that attack.

In fact, they didn't understand why she didn't dodge any of Ino's attacks.

"KUSO!" Shikamaru hissed and gripped the railing. He was shaking. Ino had gone mad. She didn't really care was she was doing or really think though anything. She was blind with rage. He saw it and if things go the way he predicted, Ino's life was at risk.

The effect of the jutsu took place on Ino. Sakura still didn't move, even though she had time to dodge. Ino's head limply tilted down.

Shikamaru carefully analyzed everything there was to analyze. Ino was… was dear to him. Of course, he was willing to admit it to himself that. The only other person that saw it was Choji. He remembered when he first met her… she dragged him to his mother by the ear for getting mud all over her.

She was different to him. Well, reminded him of his mother defiantly… but she had this touch to her. The way she was soft on the outside and hard on the inside just intrigued him. She was something that he only came across once in a lifetime.

He couldn't let her life slip away.

But he had no choice.

He was force to stand and watch.

Even though nothing had happened yet, Shikamaru could feel it.

His dear one was in danger.

Then, Sakura's head drooped down as well… then only to slowly rise up again with Sakura's eyes smug and her pink lips with faint trances of dried blood pulled up into a triumphant smirk.

"Looks like this is the end Sakura," Ino chuckled as she raised Sakura's arm, "The only thing I regret about this is that you didn't do your best. I wanted to see what you had in you… Forehead Girl…"

**Ino-**_**bitch…**_** wrong move…**

"WH---!"

Shikamaru yelled, "Ino!! Ino return to your body NOW!! INO!!"

"What are you doing, Shikamaru?" Choji grumbled, chewing on some chips, "I thought you would be the happiest out of everyone that Ino beat Sakura."

"Kuso…" he growled, his fingers growing white from his maniac grip on the metal rail, "She's gonna get hurt… I need to stop it… I…"

Ino screamed.

Her voice pierced everyone's ears, leaving a ringing in their ears. Gekkou was about to take a step forward, but then debated whether or not to stop the match. It was the Haruno girl's first move and he should watch for a minute before finding it a threat.

Ino found herself trapped in an abyss of darkness. There was nowhere to run… nothing to see. The chilling air in the space added to her fear. It reminded Ino of a cave. She didn't know what was around the corner. She couldn't feel anything. She wanted to escape as quickly as she could.

Music…

The abyss was filled with the music that sounded like it was from a music box. Ino turned her head to the sound of soft sobs.

A little pink-haired girl in a white t-shirt and shorts was crying, her face buried in the palms of her hands.

Ino kept her distance, but listened to the mumblings of the girl.

"**There's a bad person in here… the bad person will hurt me…"**

All of a sudden, the girl stopped sniffling.

"**And the bad person… is right there!"**

One palm slid down, reveling an eye socket missing the eye with glowing red from the darkness of the hole. Blood ran down her cheek. The little girl giggled.

Ino screamed.

Sakura's hands were clutching her head. The fabric of the back of her shirt ripped open, not shedding any blood, but exploding out darkness.

Shikamaru still saw everyone, but all auditorium disappeared.

The giggling of a little girl was heard.

One by one, he watched as everyone's head sliced off spontaneously and plopped to the floor along with their body. He listened and watched… soon enough, Asuma's head flew off, blood exploding out and his body fell along. He wanted to scream, but then had to watch his dearest friend experience the same thing, the bag of chips falling out of his hand in what seemed to be slow motion.

Ino.

Ino exploded.

As if a bomb was implanted in her.

Her blood splattered across his cheek.

Giggling…

Sakura, her body black, her features outlined with white, stood in front of him… giggling.

On her forehead, glowing, words that described the scene in front of him… the pain swelling inside of him…

**Spring of Crimson Tears**

Sakura stared at him, eyes full of bloodlust. He saw what seemed to be millions of transparent arms come out of her back, palms facing him.

Shikamaru saw his fate, like everyone else's, but before Sakura could lay one of those hands on her, her face filled with shock, and soon enough, she fell face forward.

The black surrounding faded away. The auditorium scene slowly reappeared and everyone faded back to normal, though their faces looked like they experienced the same thing Shikamaru did.

Cold sweat ran down everyone's faces. Their eyes were stretched out as wide as possible. Heavy breathing filled his ears.

Four bodies were left on the ground, but in full shape. Naruto and Gaara seemed to be knocked out as well as Ino and Sakura.

The Sandaime stood in front of Sakura, his hands up in a seal that Shikamaru didn't even recognize.

He yelled out to the jonin, "Take Haruno away with the Uchiha and Yamanaka to the infirmary. The Sand boy and Uzumaki can recover in the halls."

Gekkou and the other breathless jonin managed to squeeze out a weak response before disappearing with the four students.

"This is your break," Sandaime announced, "The exams will continue on as soon as get back."

With that, he disappeared as well.

The students all sighed a sigh of relief, satisfied that Sandaime let them have a moment to forget everything. Choji picked up his bag of chips and continued his munching.

Shikamaru was not satisfied.

He wanted explanations, not distractions.

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_**I have to admit that this chapter took forever to get out, maybe because everything was nuts with graduation and everything. **_

_**Well, I lied. I said that I would draw a picture for Ch4 but instead, I drew something for the later chapters, which will not be let out till I get out the other chapters.**_

_**I really wanna get the new Green Day CD, but Wal-Mart doesn't have it and B&N would be really expensive, so let's see how that works out! Ha-ha…**_

_**Whew, summer's finally here, but that doesn't mean chapters are gonna come out faster. If anything, they'll come out slower! I have so much to do! So… sorries!! **_

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_**Hugs and Kisses,  
**__**Lilium :X**_


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